


I Have Faith In What I See, Now I Know I Have Met An Angel In Person

by aaesthetic



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Ballerina Eddie, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak - Freeform, Fluff, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Happy Ending, It (2017) - Freeform, M/M, Richie Thinks Eddie's Cute, Richie Tozier - Freeform, eddie is a dancer, teen reddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-12 19:23:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13553940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaesthetic/pseuds/aaesthetic
Summary: Richie is determined to find out why Eddie has been acting so secretive.





	1. Secrets

Richie was feeling suspicious of his small friend, Eddie Kaspbrak.

For a very long time, Eddie had been cancelling on his plans with the losers, using the excuse that his mother needed him for something, but he always looked so nervous as he explained. 

–He also would play with his fingers as he talked, which Richie had noticed over the years as a clear tell that he was either nervous or lying; he didn't think the other losers had noticed, though.

Honestly, Richie felt a little worried for Eddie. They had been best friends since they were ten years old, which meant that they had now been best friends for eight years. What was so big that Eddie couldn't even tell Richie?

It was only as of recent that Eddie started acting strange in school. 

Richie and Eddie had most classes together during the week. On Tuesdays, they both had art last period, but were in different classrooms. Richie always got out of class first, so he walked down the corridor to Eddie's class and waited for him to pack his things.

–But one day, Richie got out of the class, and walked to Eddie's class to see that pretty much everyone had left. "Eds!" He called, and saw Eddie rush to the door of the class and look up at Richie.

"Hi, Rich. You know, you don't have to wait for me today, I've still got to put away some paints that I was using." He explained smoothly, but Richie knew he was lying once more, his cheeks flushing and, of course, he began playing with his fingers.

"Are you sure, Eds? I mean, I have time–" 

"No, don't worry." He smiled softly, placing his hand on Richie's upper arm, "This might take a while, I offered to clean up everyone's supplies." He nodded as confirmation of his words.

"Okay, if you're sure." Richie spoke, although confused, and Eddie nodded, squeezing Richie's arm gently.

"I'll call you later, okay?" He gave Richie a brief hug, before walking back into the classroom as Richie walked away, perplexed.

After that, it started happening very frequently, almost weekly, and Richie wasn't sure what was going on, that's when he began to grow suspicious.

Sometimes, he would actually wait outside the school for Eddie to come out, but even after waiting for an hour, Eddie hadn't appeared.

This is when he began to question Eddie, asking why he was so late out every Tuesday, as much as an hour late. Eddie always just brushed him off, saying, "Don't be silly, Rich. You probably just didn't see me come out of school. I'm always only as late as ten minutes."

Richie, of course, didn't believe him for a second.

That's why he decided to find out what was going on, whether Eddie wanted him to or not.

So, one day, after the bell had rung clearly, signalling that school was over, Richie hid in one of the empty classrooms and watched through a crack in the door as he waited for Eddie to leave his class.

Surprisingly, Eddie was out of the classroom within five minutes. Richie observed as Eddie looked both ways down the hall, presumably checking for anyone still there and when he was sure that there wasn't, he grabbed his backpack and walked down the corridor in the opposite direction that he and Richie usually walked in.

"What the hell?" Richie murmured to himself, remembering the only rooms at that end of the corridor were a janitor's closet, and a dance studio; he wasn't sure why Eddie would be using either of those rooms.

Richie decided to wait in that classroom for around fifteen minutes, just to make sure that Eddie wouldn't see him spying on him. He was sure that that would freak Eddie out, even if they were best friends.

He walked down the hall, his backpack thrown over one of his shoulders as he checked his phone, after feeling it buzzing in his pocket. He had a text from Bill, asking if he was going to make it to the diner where the losers planned on hanging out.

He sent a quick reply, saying that he would be late, but not explaining why. Just as he looked up from his phone and he shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans, the dance studio's double doors swung open and a few girls, clutching dance bags and chatting away with each other, walked out.

Richie quickly approached the girls, who stopped talking when he walked up to them hesitantly. "Hey, uh, do you know Eddie Kaspbrak?" He asked slowly, and the three girls smiled softly.

"Yeah, we're his friends, why?" One of them explained and all Richie could think of was how baffling it was that Eddie had managed to acquire any girl other than bev as his friend, and it was especially surprising that he hadn't told Richie. He was sure that Eddie would want to rub that in his face.

"Do you know where he is? I've been looking for him. I'm his friend, Richie."

"Wait, you're Richie?" Another of the girls chirped, and Richie nodded slowly. He watched as grins spread across the girls' faces and they looked at each other knowingly, before giggling slightly. 

"What's so funny?" Richie asked, perplexed. 

"Nothing." The third smiled, a little chuckle escaping her lips, "Eddie's in there." She pointed behind her with her thumb, in the direction of the dance studio.

"In the dance studio?" 

The girls nodded, and sent a grin his way before walking by him and down the hall. They were just loud enough for Richie to hear a small snippet of their conversation;

"Are you sure it was a good idea to tell him? Eddie didn't want anyone to know. Especially not him."

"Don't worry, we did a good thing for Eddie. We're helping him."

Richie squinted his eyes behind his coke bottle glasses in pure confusion, before trailing his gaze away from the girls and back to the dance studio's double doors.

The soft sound of someone humming an unknown tune filled Richie's ears, and he watched through the pane of glass in the top half of one of the doors to see what was going on.

He could see someone hunched over a speaker in the corner, presumably trying to play some music. When a piano piece that Richie wasn't familiar with began playing, the person at the speaker turned around and stood up properly.

Richie quickly ducked down underneath the door's window when he realised that it was, in fact, Eddie who was the only person in the room.

"What the—?" He whispered —to himself, of course. Slowly, he lifted his head to the glass, but just to eye level. He let out a sigh of relief when he realised that Eddie hadn't seen him. 

—Then his eyes travelled to what Eddie was wearing.

A small, confused smile grew on his lips as he observed the fact that Eddie was wearing black ballet leggings and a white t-shirt that hung loose on his petite figure. He was also wearing... ballet shoes?

Now, he was standing in the middle of the room and Richie waited in anticipation for him to do something.

Eddie's caramel hair curled slightly at the ends and it framed his face beautifully, almost like a halo. A smile laced his lips perfectly as he stared at the mirror in front of him and presumably counted to the beat of the song.

Richie couldn't lie; Eddie was cute in a ballet outfit.

In time with the music, Eddie snatched his feet up into pointe, his arms held in first position. He dropped down onto the flats of his feet before once again, jumping up into pointe, his arms in second, this time.

He began twirling around the room fluidly, pulling himself into a pirouette, and then attempting a few strong fouettés, which he succeeded at by a mile.

He moved and danced on through the piece, spinning and leaping in ways that more than impressed Richie.

Richie watched in absolute astonishment, as his small best friend moved gracefully along the floor, a small smile gracing his face, his cheeks a soft pink to accompany it.

Something so prominent that it struck Richie first overall, was how carefree and actually happy Eddie seemed while he danced.

Richie had known Eddie a long time. And throughout the time they had been friends, Richie had always noticed that Eddie always seemed anxious or on-edge about something or another. He was reserved, a little stiff when it came to letting himself have fun.

—But now, he seemed free of any worry or fret that usually weighed him down in his daily routine. 

Richie thought that Eddie looked so beautiful this way; confident, smiling, letting go of his inhibitions. It made him love Eddie a little more.

Finishing the routine with a smooth calypso and a final arabesque, Eddie sunk back onto the flats of his shoes, his breathing pattern heavy and his feet a little sore.

He brushed his soft curls away from his eyes and let out a breathy laugh, thinking over how that had been one of the very few times he had absolutely perfected that routine.

Eddie walked across the room to the speaker once more, picking up his phone and turning off the music that he had been playing only moments ago. 

Deciding that he should take a break, he turned away from the speakers. But before he could even think about sitting down, his eyes caught the double doors of the room, where a shocked Richie Tozier stood looking through the window. 

Eddie froze up, his cheeks flushing with bright, red embers. "Oh, no." He whispered, his eyes wide and still looking into Richie's.

Swiftly, he rushed away from the speaker and over to his dance bag that sat by the wall. He sat down and began pulling off his ballet shoes, shaking his head as he did so, cursing under his breath, at Richie and himself.

He was vaguely aware of Richie entering the room as he shoved his ballet shoes into his bag and pulled out a pair of sweatpants that he stood up and slipped into in order to hide his ballet leggings.

"Eds..." 

"Leave me alone, Richie." Eddie sat down and turned away from Richie, who was now sitting behind him on the floor. "I can't believe this." He murmured softly.

"I'm sorry, Eds. I didn't mean to intrude on you or anything." He sighed, noticing that Eddie had brought his knees up to his chest and had his arms closed around them. "I was just worried about you because you kept cancelling on me and the losers and you wouldn't tell me a real reason why." 

"Well, now you know why." Eddie replied, his face still glowing pink. "Look, if you wanna call me a freak, or queer or tell me you don't want to be friends with me anymore because this is weird then just do it and leave, please."

"I don't think you're a freak, Eddie Spaghetti." He smiled gently, reaching out to touch Eddie's arm comfortingly. "I thought you looked pretty cute." 

Eddie turned his head slowly, his eyes catching Richie's as he looked on with perplexity. "What?" He asked, watching Richie smile sheepishly, and then nod.

"I thought you looked cute; incredible, actually." His smile grew wider when Eddie slowly turned around to face him, "That dance was amazing, how do you do that?"

"Richie, if you're messing with me, it's really not funny–"

"I'm not messing around, Eds. I really thought it was great." He assured him, sincerity running through his words in a comforting manner.

"Thanks." Eddie murmured shyly, playing with his fingers, which meant he was anxious; Richie noticed. 

He gently placed his hands over Eddie's, in order to halt his nervous tic. "You're really talented. I wouldn't be able to do that without breaking my ankles." He chuckled, feeling slightly accomplished when Eddie began to smile down at his lap slightly.

"It looks like it hurts to wear those," He pointed out, referring to the ballet shoes, "Does it?"

"Yeah, but I just try to ignore it." Eddie shrugged, biting his lip softly. Richie nodded, still holding onto Eddie's dainty hands.

It was silent for some time after that, but it wasn't an uncomfortable or awkward silence, as cliché as that may have sounded. Well, it was quiet until Eddie realised something.

He quickly turned his hands over so that he could grab onto Richie's with them, causing Richie to look at him in surprise.

"Please, don't tell the losers about this. Please, Richie." Eddie practically begged him, pleading with his eyes, "I know that they're our best friends but I can't have them knowing. It'll be so embarrassing. They'll laugh at me and make fun of me–"

"Eds, chill out. I'm not going to tell them. I don't think they'd make fun of you, anyway." Richie gently squeezed Eddie's hands, and Eddie relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief as he nodded. 

"Oh, by the way, I met your ballerina friends." Richie laughed, and Eddie felt himself start to panic a little.

"Oh, god. What did they tell you?" Eddie asked.

"Not much, really. One of them told me you were in here and when I told them who I was, they started laughing. I'm not sure why, though."

"Okay, first off; which one told you that I was in here?"

"She didn't tell me her name."

"Okay, what'd she look like?" Eddie rephrased.

"Uh, she had long hair, she was a brunette, and she was pretty tall." Richie shrugged, and watched as Eddie groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Damnit, Mindy." He muttered, feeling slightly amused at how Richie laughed when he spoke. 

"So, do you know why they were acting weird when I told them who I was?" Richie asked, grinning at Eddie who seemed hesitant to answer.

"I honestly don't know, actually."

_"So, Eddie, do you have a crush?" One of his three new friends, Sue, asked him as they sat on the floor of the dance studio with their two other friends, stretching before they actually started practicing a routine. All three girls giggled when Eddie blushed pink_. 

"I've talked about you and the losers before, maybe they just recognised your name." He explained simply, shrugging his shoulders. 

_"Well, there is this one boy..." Eddie started, smiling shyly and then covering his red face with his hands when the girls began to make sounds such as 'ooh' and 'ooh, la la!' towards him._

"Oh, you've mentioned me, huh?" Richie smirked, "You mentioned how you can't resist my smokin' body?" He lifted his skinny arm to show his barely visible muscles to Eddie, who scoffed playfully.

"Shut up, Richie. You have actual noodles for arms." Eddie punched Richie in the shoulder gently, shaking his head. "I was actually telling them that you're an annoying trashmouth who can't shut his mouth to save himself."

_"He's called Richie. We've been best friends since we were ten. He's a total goofball, he never shuts up, but when I'm alone with him, he's actually really sweet. Sometimes, he calls me cute, and he kisses my cheeks. We've cuddled before. I know that he's just messing around and making jokes like he always does, but when he does those things it makes me so happy." Eddie explained as his lips curved into a soft smile._

_"He makes me feel special, you know?" He shrugged slightly, feeling immensely embarrassed when the girls awed and cooed at him and his tendency to be so lovesick._

_"What does he look like, Eddie?" One of the other girls, Jane, asked, propping her chin up in her hand._

_"He's really tall, he likes to make jokes about how small I am, funnily enough. He has really dark hair, and it's so curly. Sometimes he rests his head in my lap and lets me play with his hair and it's so soft. He has these glasses with lenses so thick that they make his eyes look so huge, but I think it's adorable."_

"Oh, come on, Eds. We all know you love me." Richie leaned forward to pinch his cheeks, to which Eddie quickly reacted and pushed his hand away, rolling his eyes in good nature.

"That's debatable."

_"Sometimes, I think i might even be in love with him. –And that scares me a little because I know nothing's ever going to happen with us."_

Eddie smiled gently, before reaching his hand out to card his fingers through Richie's soft, dark curls. He felt Richie tense up momentarily, before relaxing again. "Eds, what are you doing?" He asked, letting a breathy chuckle fall from his lips.

"Nothing, I just really like your hair." He murmured softly, liking the way that Richie sighed contently at the wonderful feeling.

Suddenly, Eddie shuffled closer to Richie and locked his arms around the tall boy's waist, hugging him with force. Richie, although surprised, reciprocated the gesture, holding Eddie close to him. "Thank you, for not calling me a freak." 

Richie grinned, leaning his chin on top of Eddie's head. He breathed in the scent of Eddie's soapy smelling locks of hair, closing his eyes.

"I could never, Eds."


	2. Friends

After that day, Richie coming to Eddie's sessions in the dance studio was a regular thing.

The first time that he showed up after finding out about what Eddie did in his free time, was when he came in his truck to pick up Eddie and take him home.

He walked in when Eddie, Sue, Mindy and Jane were just finishing their practice; the three girls immediately looked in the direction of Eddie who was now fighting the flush on his face as Richie walked over to him and sat down by him while he waited for Eddie to pack his dance bag.

"Hi, Richie." Eddie smiled shyly as Richie sat down next to him while he slid his ballet shoes off. He blushed under the girls' gazes, which were on the two boys.

"How was your day, Eds?" Richie asked as he leaned forward and cupped Eddie's cheek with one of his hands and then kissed his other cheek gently before pulling away and smiling at the smaller boy.

"It, it was fine, thank you." Eddie stammered as the three girls watched, smiling at the scene before them. Richie had been greeting Eddie by kissing his cheek like that for a long time, but he still couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy in his stomach due to it.

"So, you two are just friends?" Mindy asked, gesturing between Richie and Eddie. The other girls chuckled when Eddie glared at them and Richie just smiled.

"Yeah, we're just friends. I'm already sleeping with his mom, so–"

"Richie!" Eddie exclaimed, "Stop talking about my mom!" He punched Richie's arm with force, but Eddie's dainty hands couldn't do much damage, even if he tried.

"Come on, Eds! They're hilarious. Don't you think I'll be a comedian some day?" He chuckled, and Eddie just sighed, while Richie threw an arm around his shoulders.

"Aw, Eddie Spaghetti! Don't look so frustrated!" Richie pushed his glasses up with his free hand, winking at Eddie who was looking up at him with narrowed eyes, grumbling. "You know you love me."

"In your dreams, Tozier." He shook his head, although, his mind taunted him; _"Yes, Eddie you do know that. You know that you love him."_

The girls laughed, almost like they knew of Eddie's thought process. That made Eddie a little nervous.

"Okay, well, let's get going, Eds!" Richie grinned, standing up and then holding out his hand to help up the shorter boy. Eddie thanked him softly, before reaching down to pick up his dance bag, only for Richie stop him.

"I'll get it, Eddie Spaghetti." Richie said, grabbing the bag from the floor and throwing the strap over his shoulder. He took Eddie's hand gently, pulling him towards the exit of the room. "It was nice, meeting you, girls!" 

"You too, but we already felt like we knew you very well." Eddie turned his head sharply, glaring at Mindy, the one who had spoken. Richie also turned at this, obviously confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked, chuckling slightly.

"It's just that Eddie talks about you a lot." She smiled, and Eddie felt his whole face flame up in red embers. _Damnit._

"Oh, he does?" Richie smirked, glancing sideways at Eddie, who honestly was making a plan to run for the hills. Mindy nodded, and if looks could kill, she'd probably be in a grave, due to how Eddie was staring at her.

"Shut up, Min'!" He hissed —Eddie loved his friends, he really did, but god, sometimes he really hated them too.

"Aw, Eds! I'm flattered!" Richie pretended to swoon, Eddie just attempted to pull his hand out of Richie's, only for the curly haired boy to grip it tighter.

"Real cute, Eds." He lifted Eddie's hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "Let's get going; for real, this time." He laughed and they said their goodbyes to the girls, before leaving the room.

They walked down the hallway, still hand in hand. Now that the whole fiasco of Eddie's embarrassment was over, his was beginning to think about the pain in his feet. That day had been a particularly hard practice, Eddie pushing himself as hard as he could.

He winced at the feeling of his sneakers rubbing against his bruised feet, biting his lip to stop himself from complaining. Richie must have heard his pained whine, as he looked down at him with concern.

"You okay, Eds?" He asked, smiling softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just —my feet are kinda sore. But it's only a minute until we're at your truck, so it's fine." He explained, returning the smile.

"Well, we can't have you in pain, my dear Eds." 

Before Eddie had the chance to speak and ask Richie what he meant, he had been lifted into Richie's surprisingly —due to having barely any muscles —strong arms, and was being carried the way a bride would be carried through her and her husband or wife's front door after they had come home from their wedding.

The thought of this made Eddie blush.

"Richie, why are you carrying me?" He asked, quite aware of how dangerously close Richie's left hand was to his bum. 

"Because your feet hurt, and I don't want that." He laughed, glancing at Eddie out of the corner of his eye once again. 

"But, I'm heavy."

"Eds, you're so light, I can barely feel you. That just makes you even more adorable." He winked, carrying him out of the building and towards his red pickup truck.

"Thank you, 'Chee." He murmured shyly, as Richie supported him with one hand, while he used the other to open one of the truck's doors. Once he had opened it, he placed Eddie into the passenger seat, smiling at him.

"No problem, flower." Richie grinned, before shutting the door and walking around the truck to get to the driver's side. Eddie's heart jumped at the newfound nickname, and he immediately decided that he liked it.

As Richie turned on the car engine and pulled out of the parking lot, a song by 'The Cure' playing on the radio, Eddie watched him drive.

He noticed the way that Richie's skinny fingers drummed against the steering wheel, his voice soft as he sung along to the lyrics of the song playing.

He liked the dimples that appeared in Richie's cheeks when his lips graced themselves with a beautiful smile, that made Eddie want to smile too. He liked how Richie's soft, black curls bounced on his head when he moved.

Richie, noticing Eddie staring, turned to him, a smirk on his face. "What, Eds? Like what you see?" He winked again, making Eddie's stomach flip.

"Shut up, Rich." He chuckled, shoving his bicep gently. The two chatted and laughed until Richie dropped Eddie off of at his house, bidding him goodbye with a kiss to his cheek and a little salute, leaving Eddie a blushing mess of giggles.

Richie and Eddie's friendship was different from any other. There was unbreakable trust, love, adoration, and they had a chemistry that isn't seen everyday.

What Eddie had with Richie wasn't exactly a 'let's go on dates and hold hands and be sappy' relationship, but he decided that their friendship was close enough.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr! ( @soft-hanlon )


End file.
